


i don’t love you, you don’t love me

by Arina_Herman



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Angst, Crushes, F/M, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, I need more marichat in my life, Kissing
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-24
Updated: 2019-06-04
Packaged: 2019-06-15 18:00:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,876
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15418512
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Arina_Herman/pseuds/Arina_Herman
Summary: Suddenly, the girl notices a rapid movement of a black figure jumping from one roof to another with an unbelievable speed.“Chat Noir?” she whispers to herself, wondering what her partner is doing out this late.Looks like she’s not the only one having trouble sleeping tonight.





	1. first

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i’m so sorry if it’s not good enough. i have mixed feelings about this one. 
> 
> i think there might be more chapters, but to write them i’d need a lot of motivation. do you happen to know what inspires an author the most? (wink wink)  
> so yeah, if you would like to read more of this, please let me know in the comments or simply support me with kudos. 
> 
> thank you for reading, ily!

Marinette feels lonely. 

That kind of lonely all of us go through sometimes. When something unpleasant happens, and you get depressed because of it, even if it seems like not much of a deal. And you simply can’t talk to your friends about it — because you already know what they will say, and it’s not enough. 

Marinette is grateful for her friends. Alya, she’s the best, really, and without her Marinette would have not made it past one week at high school. And Tikki, sweet Tikki, she’s so wise and helpful and wonderful. 

But tonight, Marinette can’t turn to either of them. 

“There’ll be other chances, girl,” Alya would say. 

“Don’t worry! Everything will be fine,” Tikki would say. 

Marinette knows this. She doesn’t let herself believe it, though. 

She tried to ask Adrien out earlier today. Finally summoned the courage and went, determined and not planning to back up this time, straight to the boy who was patiently waiting for his driver. 

Marinette touched him lightly on the shoulder, and this contact by itself was already enough to send her head spinning. 

Adrien turned to face her, smiling politely, “Oh hey, Marinette.”

And that was the moment when everything went down. 

“A-Adrien,” she tried, but nothing else apart from his name came out of her mouth. 

Alya‘s words of reassurance and support, the pep talks she had with Tikki, the speech she practiced in front of her mirror for three days straight — everything disappeared from Marinette’s mind, leaving her gawking stupidly at Adrien, closing and then opening her mouth again and again. 

“Marinette?”

She couldn’t do it. She couldn’t. 

“I-I’m sorry,” she squeaked, already feeling a lump forming in her throat. 

She fled.

She hopes he didn’t see the tears in her eyes. 

Marinette sighs, adjusting a blanket on her shoulders. The cool wind messes up her hair from a bun and she couldn’t care less. Paris is bright with lights — beautiful, alive and unfamiliar, even though she’s been living here all her life. It’s past midnight but the whole disaster that happened earlier keeps her up. 

There’s no way Adrien will ever take her as a normal girl, and who can blame him? All she does in front of him is stammer, and stumble, and trip, and fall. Marinette is ruining her happiness with her own hands. 

“Marinette? Please, let’s go inside, it’s cold and you should get some sleep,” the girl hears Tikki’s tender voice behind her back. 

She only turns her head a little when she answers, “I appreciate your concern, Tikki, I really do, but I’d like to have some time alone.”

“I understand,” the kwami answers quietly and goes back to the room. 

Yet again, Marinette looks up at the city, not sure what she wants to find there. She’s pitying herself, she knows that, and she also knows that won’t do her any good. 

She’s just tired. Tired of hoping she’ll eventually end up with Adrien when she knows that the chances of this actually happening are terribly small. 

He’s wonderful. She loves him so much that it hurts. She steals his radiant smiles that are meant for other people. Not for her. She dreams of their future happy life together during classes, completely zoning out and getting scolded by the teachers for that. She listens carefully every time he speaks (not to her) just for the sake of hearing his voice. 

She’s obsessed. This is embarrassing. 

Suddenly, the girl notices a rapid movement of a black figure jumping from one roof to another with an unbelievable speed. 

“Chat Noir?” she whispers to herself, wondering what her partner is doing out this late. 

Looks like she’s not the only one having trouble sleeping tonight. 

Her next action is an impulse of her heart. 

“Chat Noir!” she shouts loudly, on top of her lungs, almost desperately. “Chat! Chat Noir!” 

The figure stops abruptly. She’s got his attention, perfect. 

“I’m here!” Marinette yells, waving her hands in the air. 

Chat seems to understand where the shout is coming from. He starts towards Marinette — a minute, one final leap — he lands on her balcony with a soft thud. 

“Hi,” she greets him, a small smile on her lips. 

“Hey, Marinette,” he answers. She can tell he’s confused. She would be, too, if some random citizen (who’s not in danger) shouted for her in the middle of the night. “Is everything alright?” 

“I… Yes, yes,” as she pronounces the words, Marinette notices that Chat’s breathing is heavy, locks of hair are stuck to his forehead with sweat — he must have been out for quite some time, and it looks like it wasn’t just a stroll to get some air. “You’re exhausted.” 

“I was exercising. I’m a superhero, after all. I need to work on my fighting skills and endurance.” 

“Why exercise this late? It’s about two in the morning,” Marinette folds her arms, which makes the blanket fall off. Her bare shoulders are exposed to the wind, but the girl doesn’t think about it. 

She’s focused on Chat, who sighs heavily and passes his hand over his forehead, a gesture that is a telltale sign of his tiredness. Marinette feels anxiety creep into her heart. 

Chat remains silent. 

“Chat, are you okay?” 

Of course, he isn’t. She doesn’t need to ask — she knows him like she knows herself. But she’s not Ladybug at the moment, and she doesn’t want to scare her partner by showing him that Marinette, the girl who helped him during the Evillustrator attack, can easily read him. For some reason.

“Fuck this,” the boy mutters, “I don’t have the energy to come up with excuses. I’m not okay.” 

A few moments of silence follow his words, during which Marinette tries to figure out what to say. Chat sighs again and sits down on the floor, leaning against the railing of the balcony, his legs crossed. He looks up at the girl and pats on the place beside him, inviting her to sit next to him. 

Marinette returns his smile (hers is no happier than his) and joins him on the floor, her shoulder pressed against his. 

“I take it you’re not in the best mood, either,” Chat says. 

“I guess you could say so.” 

“Love stuff?” he laughs quietly. 

“Yeah,” Marinette shrugs, “What about you?”

“The same,” he answers matter-of-factly. “I thought some physical activity would help me get my mind off… a girl. I was dumb to suppose that.”

His words make Marinette’s heart sink. She’s almost one hundred percent sure he’s talking about Ladybug — abut her — and it hurts to see him like this and know that she’s in some way responsible for all of this. For the bitterness in his beautiful smile, for the tenseness in his posture, for the maddening sadness in his piercing eyes. 

“A girl?” Marinette asks, before she can stop herself from opening her mouth. 

Chat looks at her, irony and sourness mixed in his expression. “Don’t try to make me think you have no idea who I’m talking about.”

“Ladybug, right?” 

Chat gives her an indefinite “hm” as an answer to her (stupid) question. 

Her partner is one of the most amazing people in the world. Marinette loves him, because he’s caring, and brave, and loyal (and handsome, too, if she’s honest). But her heart belongs to Adrien, and this is tearing her up. 

“Dare I ask who makes this Purr-incess’s heart ache?” 

Marinette doesn’t speak for a few moments, thinking whether she should tell Chat the truth. Finally, she decides that she owes him at least that. 

“A-a boy from my class. I’ve been crushing on him since he first came to our school.” 

“Oh?” Chat looks rather amazed, but Marinette doesn’t pay much attention. 

“I… wanted to ask him out today. And failed. Again. All I did was say his name, and then I looked at him and… and nothing came out of me, and he stood there, probably thinking I was stupid… No, wait, I take it back, he’s too kind to think such things. Anyway, I acted totally weird. And guess what I did next?” 

***

Adrien knows what she did next. 

She said “I’m sorry” and ran away. 

And he is ready to do just the same right now. His throat becomes dry. Marinette, lovely Marinette who sits behind him in class, has a crush on him. Has had for a long time, and he was too blind, too careless to notice it. 

“What did you do?” he asks, for the sake of asking, because she’s not supposed to find out that he knows. 

“I apologized to him and just ran from there. Stupid, right?” Marinette laughs, but her laugh is forced. 

“No, it’s not stupid,” Chat argues, frowning, “I get nervous around Ladybug all the time.” 

“You do?” Marinette’s face lights up a bit and she smiles, lifting her eyes from the floor to his face. 

“Yeah, of course! The majority of my puns are born exactly when I‘m flustered. Don’t know how this happens, but it does.”

“That’s sweet, Chat.”

The conversation fades away, and they find themselves in a comfortable silence. Chat glances at Marinette — she’s wrapped up in a blanket again, small, cute and sleepy. Suddenly, she lays her head on his shoulder, and it seems like she’s more than content with being like this with him. 

He is, too. 

He feels guilty. He shouldn’t, but he can’t help it, because Marinette deserves better. Not some part-time superhero with a bunch of secrets and a hopeless crush on his partner. 

“You know,” Chat speaks quietly, not to disturb the snug atmosphere, “Ladybug will never love me like that.”

Marinette doesn’t say anything but turns her head on his shoulder to look at him, as if encouraging him to go on. 

“She’s already in love with someone. I still hope I’ll have a chance of being with her someday, but… I think that’s pointless. And I’m so tired of this. So, so tired of aching.” 

Chat is surprised when he hears Marinette sniff.

“Are you crying?” 

He turns his whole body to her and puts his hands on her shoulders, trying to make the girl face him but with no success. 

“Marinette, look at me. Marinette,” he tries, and finally she lifts up her head. 

“I just… I can relate too much, I think,” she smiles sadly and wipes away the tears. 

Now Chat is the one who wants to cry. If the was she feels about Adrien is any similar to what he feels about Ladybug, it must be beyond depressing for her. 

“I guess we found each other, then. The not-so-anonymous society of heartbroken people.” 

“No fair, I don’t even know who you really are, so at least half of our society is indeed anonymous,” Marinette laughs, sincerely, and Chat it happy he managed to cheer her up a bit. 

She’s beautiful. 

He could have fallen for her, not Ladybug. He could have come over Marinette’s house every day and have fresh croissants and hot cocoa, and they could have been happy together. They could have had a future, a wonderful one. 

They could have.

***

Chat’s eyes are glowing in the dark, and his lips are curved in a shy and genuine smile. Marinette laughs when he makes a joke, because that’s what he does all the time. Makes her feel better during her darkest times. 

He’s amazing. 

She could have fallen for him, not Adrien. She could have kissed him on the Eiffel Tower after their patrols and he would make ridiculous puns and she would roll her eyes and blush. They could have been happy together. 

They could have. 

The next moment Chat Noir’s face is dangerously close to hers. 

“Chat?” 

He doesn’t say a word, studying her carefully, and for some reason Marinette is not moving away from him. Her mind is as silent as Chat is; she’s surprised — amazed, even — but at the same time curious. 

Strange. 

“What would you do if I kissed you now?” he asks, his eyes on her lips, voice so concentrated and intriguing that Marinette stops breathing for a second. 

“I would kiss you back,” she replies, and she didn’t expect this kind of answer from herself, but it doesn’t feel wrong. Not even a bit. 

“You don’t love me,” he puts his hand is on her waist.

“I don’t.”

“I don’t love you,” his breathing tickles her skin.

“You don’t.” 

She breathes out the words, and her whole being shivers lightly in anticipation. She shouldn’t do it, he shouldn’t do it, they shouldn’t do it.

They do it. 

He’s not gentle, not really; careful, yes, but also passionate and demanding, hungry, fast. Mere seconds into the kiss, and his tongue caresses her lower lip, her hands are in his hair and they almost fall on the floor because they’re clumsy, but Chat puts them into a stable position right away, not pulling away from the girl. 

The image of Adrien flashes through Marinette’s mind, but she is quick to erase it. She’ll feel guilty later. 

Although, is there really anything to blame herself for? 

The thought of completely giving up on Adrien hurts her, burns from the inside, because she loves him with her whole heart, but this is not him Marinette is kissing right now. 

This is Chat Noir. Ardent, tender Chat Noir, who cares and who is here, pressing his lips to her jawline and hugging her as if she’s his last hope, his one and only reason to go on. 

*** 

Her lips are hot, despite the cool weather. 

She kisses him back, just like she said she would, and he likes the way she grabs the suit on his back, the way she parts her lips, the way she presses herself to him. 

Chat Noir is amazed at how good it feels, holding someone — not someone, Marinette, — so close, making her ask for more, feeling desire burn in both of them. 

His thoughts drift to Ladybug for a second. He loves her, yet he’s kissing another, and he doesn’t even feel that it’s wrong. 

After all, maybe it isn’t. 

His heart has been broken for a long time already. And Marinette might be the one to mend it. 

Marinette, whose lips are on his neck, her tongue leaving wet tracks there, making Chat lose his mind. 

She tugs on his bell so that she can whisper in his ear, “Don’t go.” 

Chat is struck by how sincere and honest she sounds. “I wasn’t planning to,” he smiles, placing his hand on her cheek and dragging her into another kiss.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so, uh, it’s three in the morning and i was feeling inspired. hope you don’t hate this. xx

Marinette sighs, wiping her forehead with her hand. She has never thought that removing all pictures of Adrien, as well as his schedule, would be this time-consuming and tiring. She was so used to having her classmate’s face everywhere in her room that now it feels a bit naked to her. 

But it had to be done. And she’s even proud of herself in some way. 

Another string connecting her with Adrien is now torn. Marinette doesn’t know how she feels about it. She’s sad, and she’s relieved, and she’s scared.

The girl hears Tikki fly out of her hiding place under the bed and turns to face her kwami with a melancholic smile on her lips. 

“What are you going to do with all these?” Tikki asks, pointing to a huge pile of pictures. 

Marinette shrugs. “Don’t know. I think I have to, you know… do… that…” she looks at the little deity, hoping that she’ll get the message, because pronouncing it out loud feels wrong. 

“What?” 

“I-… I think I have to throwthemaway.” 

“Marinette, I know practically all the languages that have ever existed and I can’t make anything out of what you’ve just said.” 

Marinette groans in despair. “I think. I have. To throw. The pictures. Away.”

Tikki giggles. “See, talking an actual human language is not that hard.”

“For the first time in my life as Ladybug, you’re being sarcastic. Why would you start now, when I’m in such dismay?” the girl fakes deep offense by making her voice sound as mournful as possible.

Her kwami laughs again, and Marinette thinks yet again how lucky she is, to be granted with such a great little friend and supporter who gives her Ladybug’s superpowers. Tikki holds a special place in her heart. Always will. 

“On a serious note,” Marinette says, “I know if I want to get over Adrien, I have to get rid of the pictures once and for all. But, uh… I don’t know, how do I even do this? My crush on him has become a significant part of me — I can’t imagine myself not loving him.”

“You don’t have to stop loving him,” Tikki reasons. 

“I want to.” 

The girl frowns, a bit amazed at her own answer. She swore she’d love Adrien forever, and now she’s saying she wants to move on. Maybe it’s just her maximalism talking — in both cases. 

The kwami opens her moth to speak, but then there is a sudden thud on the trapdoor and she flys under the bed, knowing that the sound could be caused only by one certain black cat. 

Marinette starts panicking. 

She hasn’t seen Chat Noir for a couple of days — neither as Marinette, nor as Ladybug, for the lack of akumas. She hasn’t seen him since the night. 

The night they were kissing like there was no tomorrow, uniting their weakened with loneliness hearts and forgetting all about i-love-someone-else’s. 

He left early in the morning, and there was no tension between them as he did. He kissed her one last time, making it hard for her to stand, bid goodbye and jumped off her balcony, and she was following his figure with her eyes until he disappeared behind the Parisian roofs. 

However, it was bound to get awkward the next time they’d see each other, and Marinette has no idea how she’ll be able to hide her blush when she’ll have to meet him as Ladybug. But that’s a thing she will worry about later, apparently, given Chat Noir is now on her balcony. 

The girl swallows and opens the trapdoor. She can already feel her face heating up. 

How is she going to deal with this mess? 

Chat looks down at her, his expression not really visible to Marinette in the darkness. 

“Come in,” she says, “I don’t want to come out into the cold.” 

The superhero obeys, gracefully jumping into her room. It would be easy for Marinette to see the emotions on his face now but she stubbornly refuses to lift her eyes, choosing to study her own fingers instead. 

A minute passes, then another. They don’t move, their breathings being the only sounds disturbing the completely quiet atmosphere. 

“Hey,” Chat finally says, “How are, eh… things?”

“Oh, alright. Everything’s perfect,” the girl answers in an unnaturally happy voice. 

Chat smirks and looks around, his features somehow tensed, like there’s something troubling him. 

“You were cleaning, I see?” he asks and turns back to Marinette for a moment before going right to the pile of Adrien’s photos on the floor. 

Marinette breathes out. “Something like that. Just… getting rid of some stuff.”

She goes to stand near Chat, who is carefully studying the pictures. 

“Didn’t know you had so many photos of him.”

“Yeah. I’m crazy, I know.” 

“No, I didn’t mean it in a bad way.”

They are silent for a few seconds, until Chat speaks again. 

“I changed my phone wallpaper. From Ladybug to some silly flowers.” 

Somehow, Marinette feels a pang of sadness. “You had her picture as your phone wallpaper?” 

“Mhm. I still have an action figure of her on my bed-table. Can’t bring myself to put it away, got so used to this silly toy,” his smile is bitter, eyes filled with frustration. 

The girl sighs heavily before she abruptly takes the photos in her hands, the action resulting in loud rustling of the paper. Chat is startled by her sudden movement — he takes a step back, looking at Marinette questioningly. 

“Why does it feel like I’m killing an actual person by throwing these away?” she wonders while looking around for a trash bin. 

Chat spots it behind her and goes to help her cram all the pictures inside the small container. “My assumption is it’s because now you won’t have him… around.” 

“Sounds strange, but you are probably right. I even talk to his photos. I can’t really have a more or less normal conversation with the real one, so…” she looks down at Adrien’s crumbled face on one of the pictures in the trash bin. “Bye, Adrien. Thank you for being there for me when I needed you.”

Her voice may be too tender and serious, and she may feel on the verge of crying because it may hurt just a little too much. 

“What do you mean?” Chat asks, genuine curiosity with a hint of something else (something she can’t quite figure out) in his voice. 

“There are times when I can’t find it in me to, say, finish a particularly difficult designing project. When everything suddenly becomes too much, I tend to turn into a self-doubting, depressive mess, and, well, thoughts of Adrien have always somehow helped me to come out of that state. I just, you know…” she hesitates, hopelessly trying to explain what she means by waving her hands in the air. 

“You think about him and it feels like it’s all worth it?” Chat suggested. 

“Yes! All the projects, and homework, and, er, my other duties — they seem so easy when I think of Adrien, and how he’ll notice me eventually and fall in love with me, and he… he just… I’d do anything for him, I’d-“

Marinette stops in the middle of her sentence, frowning at her own words. “Past tense. I should’ve talked about him in the past tense.”

“Hm?” Chat tilted his head, confused at the girl’s sudden change of mood. Then he seems to realize something, “Are you saying that… that you don’t love him anymore?”

She turns her face to him, still frowning, and shakes her head, lips curving into a sad smile.

“That’d be silly for me to say. I do still love him, such feelings don’t just come and go, but I think… I think it’d be better for me to let go of him.”

“I feel the same about Ladybug.”

She sighs and walks to stand right in front of him. She lays her hand on his cheek, smiling a little, and it makes Chat blush a bit underneath his mask. 

“You’re amazing, Chat Noir. She is stupid not to love you.”

“And he is stupid not to love you,” he says, looking right into her eyes, and Marinette finds herself fighting the urge for more contact.

She catches the way he tilts his head slightly and starts moving closer — slowly, his eyes darting at her lips. When he’s only an inch away, only a split second away from closing the distance between them, Marinette steps back, removing her hand from his cheek. 

“Listen, Chat,” she starts, taking in his confused and saddened expression, “I don’t think this is a good idea.”

“Really? You didn’t seem to mind last time,” Chat remarks sarcastically, and she may be imagining it but he looks like she has just offended him. 

“I thought about this. A lot. Do you think continuing to kiss each other without having feelings is fair, hm?” 

She does not sound convincing and she knows it. 

“I never said I didn’t have feelings for you.” 

Marinette opens her mouth. Closes it. Then opens again, unsure of how to proceed his words. 

“Y-you said you loved Ladybug,” was all she could come up with. 

“I do love Ladybug. As you’ve said, such feelings don’t disappear overnight. I don’t love you, true, but I think you’re pretty great, and I enjoyed kissing you,” there’s a faint blush on his cheeks as he speaks. 

“I liked kissing you, too, but…”

“Why do we always have to have a ‘but’, Marinette?” Chat interrupts her, irritation clear in his voice, “Why can’t we just do what we want to?”

“We can, Chat, but you have to understand, this is simply unfair.”

“Unfair to whom?” the boy almost shouts, making the girl jump on her spot. “For fucks sake, Marinette. I’m so tired of everyone telling me what to do. I always try to please others, not willing to seem selfish, but this time, just this fucking time I want to be selfish.”

Marinette stares at Chat losing his cool — no doubt he’s had his emotions pent up inside him for a long time, not having anyone to rant to. He hasn’t talked about his feelings with Ladybug, and the girl feels so guilty for not being a proper friend to her partner. 

“I want to kiss the girl thar attracts me. I don’t want to think about Ladybug, or Adrien, or anyone else. I’m done feeling guilty, I’m done waiting for Ladybug to love me, and I’m done hurting, I’m-“ 

The rest of his sentence dissolves in a kiss. Her hands are griping his collar and she’s probably applying too much pressure but all that is of second importance — or rather of no importance at all.

At this very moment… things get better. 

When Chat starts to comprehend what is going on, he lets out a soft moan and places his hands on her waist, pressing her body closer to his. 

The kiss gets hungrier and messier, but no less mind blowing. 

“We are not using each other, are we?” Marinette asks in between the rushed touches of their lips. 

“Of course not,” he doesn’t hesitate before he answers, “I’m not here because I want to forget Ladybug, I came because of you.”

“I’m glad you’re here.” 

She leads him to the bed and they lay down, passion fading and flowing into something lazier and cozier. When their lips start hurting, Chat smiles at the girl and starts playing with the locks of black hair, relaxed and comfortable. 

Marinette thinks whether she’s betraying him by not telling him she’s Ladybug. But what they have now is kind of special. Somehow, she wants it to stay in Marinette’s life for now; she doesn’t want her Ladybug side to intrude. Moreover, if she tells him her secret now, they may end up in an awkward situation. The reveal, if there will be any, has to come later.

***

Her bed is soft, her hair is soft, and her voice is, too, when she starts murmuring something silly and senseless to his ear. 

“It tickles,” he giggles, “Stop!” 

Of course, she doesn’t stop, and Chat bursts out laughing, wiggling on the bed. But then he finds it in him to resist her, so he quickly buries his face in her neck, which makes Marinette squeal. 

“You’re cute, you know that?” he speaks all of a sudden, looking up at her, and her flushed cheeks and confused smile make Chat Noir’s heart skip a few beats. 

She shrugs, letting out a chuckle, and he then lays his head on her chest and closes his eyes. 

For the first time in forever, he feels calm. At peace with himself and everything around him. 

He knows he’s purring, and if it was Ladybug he was with, he’d probably try and muffle the sound, because it’s awkward, and “awkward” isn’t exactly what he wants to be associated with when it comes to Ladybug. Of course, she is kind, and she understands, but he has always been trying to impress her. Purring is not impressive. 

“You call me cute when you’re the one who can purr.” He hears Marinette’s voice above his head, and there’s this warmth in it that makes Chat’s chest tight. “Lovable, wonderful kitty.” 

She whispers while playing with his hair, the words leaving her mouth so easily, no hesitation in them. She has no idea. She doesn’t know how much hearing this means to him. 

He raises his head and their lips meet again. They let the kiss linger; they share all the love they have with each other. That love was supposed to be meant for other people, but somehow Chat is not so sure anymore whether there’s any other person that he’d rather give it to. 

“I have to go, it’s getting late,” he says, parting from her reluctantly, and she frowns, wrapping her arms around him and pulling him close. 

“No, you don’t. Stay for a little longer,” Marinette asks, kissing his hair. 

“If it’s just for a little,” Chat complies and closes his eyes. 

***

Marinette knows she should have known better, but she doesn’t regret anything at all. 

Chat is sleeping in her embrace, his breathing even and peaceful. She will have to wake him up in some time, but right now the time that only knows how to run out, shows mercy and slows down. 

She knows they will both heal. It is a long process, a hard one, but they will get there. They will get there. 

She closes her eyes. Chat pulls her closer, and there’s no place she’d rather be.


End file.
